Manila: Philippine health authorities on Monday raised thealert for dengue in the country following a sharp increase in thenumber of cases of the illness, which has killed 456 nationwide inthe first half of the year.
The number of patients who died from dengue in January to June thisyear was up 39 per cent from 278 in the same period in 2018,according to data from the Department of Health.
The department has also recorded a total of 106,630 cases of dengueinfection nationwide in the first six months of the year, 85 per centhigher than the 57,564 cases in the same period last year.
Due to the increase, the department declared a "national denguealert," directing regional offices to step up surveillance of denguecases and heightened implementation of strategies to combat thedisease.
"This is the first time we're declaring a national alert because theobjective is very clear - we want to raise awareness among the publicand more importantly in communities where signs of early dengueincrease are evident," Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
Duque stressed the need for the public to also seek medical attentionas soon as symptoms manifest, such as fever for more than two days,severe joint and muscle pain, fatigue, nausea, skin rashes andbleeding.
"Usually [patients] are brought to the hospitals rather late," hesaid. "[When there is] haemorrhage, internal bleeding, the heart isaffected, the other organs are similarly affected. Early detection isso crucial." DPA
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